


Unexpected

by Soulstoned



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hospitals, Illness, M/M, Mpreg, Not Epilogue Compliant, Oral Sex, Space Goddess Allura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 17:17:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18554260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulstoned/pseuds/Soulstoned
Summary: Shiro has been sick and hiding it for a while now. When he finally gets dragged to the hospital against his will, what they find is not what anyone would have expected.





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yodaisgreat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yodaisgreat/gifts).



Shiro has been down this road before, showing any sign of having a major illness is a good way to get grounded from all space flight indefinitely. The last thing he wants to do is risk getting relegated to a desk job while his crew goes into space without him, so he hides it.

As much as he misses Keith while he’s away, a small part of Shiro is glad that he’s on an extended mission with the Blade of Marmora right now. Without the added scrutiny of his boyfriend, it’s been much easier for his illness to fly under the radar. Keith would have noticed something was wrong months ago if he was anywhere near this solar system. 

Shiro has so far successfully avoided scheduling morning meetings so he can sleep in and be alone through the part of the day when his fatigue and nausea is at its worst. He has also been eating his meals in private so nobody has to know that he is barely keeping anything down, and so he doesn't have to smell anyone else's food. 

His exercise routine has suffered. Shiro has been too exhausted and achy over the past few months to do much more than is necessary for his job. 

Far more worrying than the fatigue and nausea is the mysterious weight gain and the strange twitching in his abdominal muscles. Trading his uniforms in for a larger size was a blow to his self-esteem, and unless something changes it isn't going to be long before he has to do it again. 

Shiro knows there is something very wrong, he wouldn’t really even be surprised if he is dying. Only one thing is certain, if Shiro is going to die he is going to do it in space. He is far too stubborn to do it on Earth. 

Launch day is today, the Atlas is going to be returning to space after spending the last few months on Earth and Shiro intends to be on that ship with his crew. He isn’t going to miss what might be his last chance to live his dream. 

Shiro looks into the mirror as he combs his hair to get ready for the launch. He looks like hell. The dark circles under his eyes can't be from a lack of sleep, he has had plenty of that. Too much, really. He has to force his belt to close on the very last hole, so he makes a mental note to replace it later.

He makes his way to the bridge to take his place for the launch. Most of the crew is already in their places, those who haven't seen him in a while are looking at him strangely before quickly averting their eyes when he looks back at them.

Veronica is standing in front of him asking a question, but it’s hard to concentrate when the room won’t stop spinning. She gives him a concerned look and reaches for his arm as he feels someone else step up behind him and then the room goes black.

_______________

Shiro comes to a moment later as he is being hoisted up by Hunk. “Hey, I caught you. Let's go get you checked out before launch,” says Hunk, turning to carry Shiro away from the bridge and towards the ramp exiting the ship.

“Put me down, I'm fine. I'm just a little light headed,” says Shiro, trying to pull free from Hunk's grip. 

“You aren't fine, we all just saw you faint back there, and you’ve been looking pretty rough for weeks,” says Hunk, turning down the ramp to exit the ship without losing his grip on Shiro as he tries to wiggle free.

“At least let me walk,” says Shiro, fighting the urge to pout. He isn't sure when Hunk got this strong, but right now he doesn't like it.

“Okay, but I’m staying with you, at least until we get you checked in,” says Hunk, pausing at the bottom of the ramp to put Shiro down so they can make the walk across the base to Garrison Hospital.

Shiro doesn't want to go there, too many bad memories, but after fainting in front of over half of his crew he doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. 

“I don't guess I have the option to just visit the ship's infirmary after launch,” says Shiro, stopping just steps short of the emergency room entrance. 

“Not a chance,” says Hunk, guiding him through the doors.

Shiro approaches triage with a sigh and tells the nurse on duty what happened on the ship, claiming that he thinks it’s just a stomach bug, then takes a seat in the waiting room. 

After a few minutes Iverson walks through the hospital doors and says something to the triage nurse. A minute later, Shiro is being ushered into a private room. Hunk excuses himself when the phlebotomist comes in to take a blood sample. 

After spending the better part of the afternoon being poked and prodded, Shiro decides to take advantage of the relative quiet of the hospital room and take a nap.

_________________

When Shiro wakes up he can see the sun setting through the open blinds of the hospital room window. A hand rests on top of his own and he turns to see Keith sitting in the chair next to his bed, brows pinched with worry.

“When did you get here?” asks Shiro, sitting up to face Keith fully.

“I just walked in the door, Hunk called me as soon as he brought you here. I had to wait for Acxa to take my place on the mission, and even with wormhole jumps the trip to earth still took a couple hours,” says Keith.

Shiro's brows knit together, “Hunk called you? Do you think he knows?” asks Shiro.

“I don't think so, Lance and Pidge are in the waiting room. I think he just wanted the whole team here to support you. When were you going to tell me?” asks Keith, not meeting Shiro's eyes.

“I didn't want to worry you while you were away on a mission,” says Shiro, grabbing Keith's hand from where it was resting on top of his own. 

“I was worried anyway. You stopped video calling a couple months ago and then I get here and your first concern is that Hunk might know we’re together. How am I supposed to feel?” asks Keith, gripping Shiro's hand tighter.

“I'm sorry, I should’ve told you. I started feeling sick a few days after you left for your mission, and at first I thought it was just a virus, but it kept getting worse, and then the other symptoms started up. I didn't want to get stuck here on Earth, so I hid it from everyone. I don't care if our friends know we’re together, I know we planned to wait until after your mission and see how things are going, but you’re home now and I missed you so much,” says Shiro.

“I missed you too, Shiro,” says Keith, slumping over in the hospital chair. “Did you disable your camera on our calls because you were worried I would be able to tell you were sick?” he asks.

“That's half of it,” says Shiro with a sigh letting the blanket drop down so Keith can get a good look at his new rounder shape.

Keith just shakes his head “The war is over now Shiro, you don't have to worry about staying in peak condition if you don't want to. I’m always going to be attracted to you,” he says.

“Even if my six pack looks more like a keg?” asks Shiro.

“Even then,” says Keith.

Just then a doctor enters the room. Keith moves to excuse himself and Shiro grips his hand harder to keep him in place. 

“Your blood test results show that you’re anemic and dehydrated. We’re going to start you on an iron supplement and anti-nausea meds while we run additional tests. There were some results we couldn't explain, so we would like to do some imaging to see what we can find. Someone will be in shortly to take you upstairs to radiology,” says the doctor, as a nurse walks into the room and replaces the nearly empty bag of IV fluids Shiro was hooked up to when he first arrived, as well as an additional medication that Shiro assumes must be for the nausea.

The doctor and nurse leave the room as another person comes in to take Shiro up to the imaging floor of the hospital. 

“I'm going to step out into the waiting room and update the others. I'll be here when you get back,” says Keith as Shiro is wheeled out of the room. 

Shiro just nods. A few minutes later he laying down in an MRI machine after being assured that the metal used in his arm is not magnetic. He guides his arm out of the room anyway just to be on the safe side, and hopes for the sake of his shoulder port that they’re telling the truth. 

The test is over after a few minutes, and he tries not to read too far into the strange look the radiology tech gives him as he leaves to go back to his room.

True to his word, Keith is waiting for him when he returns.

“No matter what, you aren't going to be trapped on Earth, I won't let that happen,” says Keith as Shiro settles back in his hospital bed.

“The garrison isn't going to send me back up there if I'm sick, I've been through this before,” says Shiro with a sigh.

“I have my own ship, they can't stop me from leaving and taking you with me,” says Keith.

“Thank you. I should’ve told you about this sooner, I just panicked. I hate hospitals, I hate it when people think they need to take care of me, I hate being held back from doing my job, I just hate all of it,” says Shiro.

“I want to take care of you because I love you, not because I think you can't take care of yourself. If it's too much let me know and I'll back off, but please don't shut me out,” says Keith.

“I think it might be okay when it's you,” says Shiro, reaching over to take Keith's hand.

“Whatever they find, I'm here. If you want to get away, we can do that, but let's find out what’s wrong first. It might be nothing,” says Keith as he scoots his chair closer to the side of the bed.

They sit there for a while. Keith catches Shiro up on the rebuilding mission he had been a part of on the newly restored Olkarion. He was there for four months of what was supposed to be a six month mission before receiving the call from Hunk to get back to Earth. He had mostly been piloting the ship that brought supplies and scattered Olkari citizens back to the planet during the rebuilding effort.

Only a short amount of time passes before the doctor returns, this time with an old piece of medical equipment and another doctor in tow. They both look very excited, it is unnerving.

The second doctor wheels the old piece of equipment to the side of the bed opposite where Keith is sitting and flips it on. Keith starts to stand up to leave and Shiro grasps his hand tighter. “Stay, please,” he says.

Keith nods and sits back down. The original doctor looks downright giddy. “We found the source of your illness, but we don’t think you're going to believe this unless you see it for yourself. Given your symptoms and the length of time you’ve been dealing with them, and what we found on the scan, well, see for yourself,” he says.

“Lift your shirt,” says the second doctor, who has finished setting up the machine on the other side of the bed. Shiro does as he is told and looks away from the screen. Keith squeezes his hand and watches the screen for him as a blurry black and white picture comes into view. It isn’t very clear, but whatever is in there seems to be moving. Something comes into view that looks a lot like a face and a ...tiny hand? What the hell?

Keith’s jaw drops. “Shiro, look at the screen, you have to see this,” he says.

“Is it that bad?” Shiro asks, still pointedly looking away from the screen.

“Well, you aren’t dying,” says Keith, still transfixed by the image on the screen.

“Not dying is good,” says Shiro as he turns his head to take a look at the screen. 

“What..what is that?” he asks in disbelief. He knows what it looks like, but that's impossible. 

“You have an entire extra internal reproductive system. Assuming it is growing at a normal rate, the fetus seems to be around 22 weeks gestation. There is a hybrid specialist flying out that will be here in the morning to take a closer look. That is the closest thing we could find to an expert on your situation. We think you have hyperemesis gravidarum, which is basically excessive morning sickness during pregnancy. There are some medications we can give you to help with that,” says the doctor standing at the foot of the bed. 

All Shiro and Keith can do is watch in shock as the other doctor takes measurements and looks the fetus over. Keith breaks the silence, “Does it look healthy?” he asks. Shiro is suddenly struck by a primal fear that he has already messed up his kid. He hasn’t been taking any vitamins, and those are probably important, and he has barely been holding any food down, and if it has been that long, then at the beginning he was exercising a lot, even recently he has still been lifting when he feels up to it, which admittedly hasn’t been often.

On top of that, he wasn’t even the one to think to ask the question. 

“The specialist will be able to tell you more tomorrow, but so far we don’t have much reason to be concerned. We do want to see what other changes there have been between the original body and this one to avoid more surprises down the road. If he decides to continue this pregnancy we’ll need to monitor it closely since this is a first and we aren’t really sure what to expect,” says the first doctor.

Keith tears his eyes away from the screen to look at Shiro, “Whatever you decide to do, I’m here for you,” he says, brushing Shiro’s hair out of his eyes and resisting the urge to look back at the screen.

Shiro nods without looking away from the screen. This is insane. This morning he was certain he was dying and just trying to get back into space one final time, now he is staring at an ultrasound of a fetus that is currently _inside of him_. This is the opposite of dying if you really think about it. He doesn’t want to think about what the witch’s plans for the clones must have been if she gave them this ability.

Keith is pointedly looking away from the screen as the doctors print out a couple pictures and leave them on the nightstand before exiting the room, taking the ancient portable ultrasound machine with them as they go. 

“I can’t say I expected that,” says Shiro in disbelief.

“I’m so sorry I left you to deal with this alone,” says Keith.

“You couldn’t have known. I didn’t even know,” says Shiro, placing his hand on his stomach, “but I guess it all adds up.”

“What are you going to do?” asks Keith.

“I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it until now. What do you want to do?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” says Keith, looking away.

“Hey, look at me,” says Shiro, reaching for Keith’s hand. Keith brings his eyes up to Shiro’s face. “Of course it matters what you want. I can’t do this alone,”

“You won’t be alone. The war is over. I can take a step back from the blade for a little while,” says Keith.

“What would you tell your mom?” asks Shiro.

“The truth, I guess. If anyone is going to understand why I would take a break from the blade to stay with my baby it’s mom,” says Keith.

Shiro pulls Keith's hand over to rest on his stomach and feel the small fluttering kicks that he previously thought were some kind of spasm. 

Keith's eyes widen and he jerks his hand back as if he has been burned.

“I...I'm sorry. I thought… I should have warned you,” Shiro splutters out in surprise at Keith's reaction.

“I'm sorry. I just don't want to get attached unless you’re keeping it, but I don't want to pressure you, this is your decision,” says Keith.

“Keith,” says Shiro as he reaches out to grab Keith's hand and place it back where it was, “go ahead and get attached.”

Keith surges forward out of his seat and captures Shiro's lips in a fierce kiss. “I love you. I know we can do this,” he says as they break apart and he settles on the bed curled into Shiro's side.

Shiro looks over Keith's shoulder through the open door and sees that a crowd has gathered. The crowd quickly disperses after realizing they’ve been spotted. Shiro sighs and sinks back into the bed as Keith gets up to close the door. “I guess I should get used to being gawked at like a zoo animal for the next few months,” he says.

“That isn't something you should have to get used to. I'll keep an eye on the door and if they aren't your specific doctor or bringing you food or medicine, I'll chase them off,” says Keith, moving around to Shiro's other side so he can face the door.

“Are the others still in the waiting room?” asks Shiro.

“Yeah, they said they were going to hang out until they know what's wrong, everyone is pretty worried about you,” says Keith.

Shiro sighs. “I guess we should tell them what’s actually wrong so they can stop worrying. It's not like they won't find out eventually,” he says. 

“I can go get them,” says Keith, getting up to move towards the door.

Shiro grabs his hand to stop him, “wait, I don't want to tell them, I just want them to ...know somehow. I don't know. It's been a long day,” he says sinking back against the pillows with a pained expression on his face.

“If we wait too much longer they might find out by overhearing hallway chatter,” says Keith, glaring at a nurse who has paused outside the door. She darts away when she realizes she has been seen. “I'm going to put something up over that window,” he grumbles, settling back against the bed with Shiro.

“I just don't want to have to see their first reaction. I feel weird enough already,” says Shiro.

“I could go out there and tell them,” says Keith, “they're going to find out soon anyway, it would be better if it comes from one of us.”

“Please,” says Shiro, pulling Keith down into another kiss. 

“Of course, anything for you,” says Keith with a smile as he breaks away from the kiss and stands up. He grabs the ultrasound pictures from the bedside table and takes a minute to hang his jacket over the small window on the back of the door before heading out to the waiting room to talk to the paladins.

______________

Keith stops for a minute after he steps into the hallway. He told Shiro he would tell the paladins, but he didn't put any thought at all into _how_ he was going to tell the paladins. None of the others even know they are dating. They only had a month together before getting sent to opposite sides of the universe, and then it was agreed that they would tell everyone in person the next time they were all together.

He takes a deep breath and continues down the hall to where Hunk, Lance, and Pidge are huddled together whispering to each other.

Lance stands up to greet him “Do you know anything yet, or are you just here to trade places with one of us?” he asks. 

“We keep seeing people stop outside his door, but nobody will tell us anything,” says Pidge.

Keith takes a deep breath and hands them each one of the pictures. “They figured out what’s wrong, and uh… I can't say I saw this coming, but Shiro is pregnant,” he says, not looking any of them in the eyes.

When he looks up, Lance looks angry and Hunk and Pidge just look confused. “This is a really weird prank, Keith,” says Lance, giving him a look that could melt steel.

“Where did you even get these pictures?” asks Pidge, looking closely at the image “They have today's date printed at the top.”

“It isn't a prank, I wouldn't joke about something like this. The doctor printed those off when he was in earlier,” says Keith, taking the pictures back.

“Huh,” says Hunk sitting back down in his chair. “How’s he taking it?”

“He’s pretty freaked out by the whole thing, but he’s taking it better than I would’ve expected,” says Keith.

“I can't help but notice we're the only ones here. Do we need to track someone down, you know, get him to take responsibility?” asks Lance, glancing around the waiting room to verify that they are still the only ones present.

“That won't be-”

Hunk interrupts, “How are you taking this? You aren't exactly subtle when it comes to how you feel about him, this must be a rough way to find out he’s with someone,” 

Keith facepalms, “If you’d let me finish, we don't need to track anyone down. It was me.”

Lance raises an eyebrow, “You knocked up Shiro,” he says in a disbelieving tone.

“When?” asks Hunk.

“Remember when the lions left and we were all stranded on Altea for a few days? It started there, and I got to spend about a month with him before I got called away again. We were going to tell you, but there was never the time and we thought it would be better to tell you in person the next time we were all together, and well, this is that time,” Keith explains, looking down at the pictures in his hand.

“How did it happen?” asks Lance.

“The usual way I guess,” says Keith.

Pidge bursts out laughing. “I guarantee you it was _not_ the usual way. Do I need to give you the talk?”

“No, I don’t need the talk,” says Keith, turning red. “I meant we didn’t do any special rituals or anything, we just had sex,” he mumbles.

“I don’t need any details, forget I asked,” Lance says hurriedly. 

“I guess if you’re carrying pictures around and telling us about it that means he’s keeping it,” says Pidge.

“Yeah, We’re keeping it,” says Keith, still looking at the pictures with a small smile on his face.

“What can we do to help?” asks Hunk.

“He doesn’t like people looking at him, he says it makes him feel like a zoo animal, so just treat him like you normally would and ask others to do the same. He doesn’t want anyone gawking at him,” says Keith, glaring daggers into the backs of two orderlies who slowed down in front of Shiro’s room before walking off in disappointment after seeing that the window is covered.

“Is it a secret?” asks Lance.

“I would rather tell my mom personally but I think the secret is out, or it will be soon. Mom is on Daibazaal right now and even with that much distance I still think I need to tell her tonight or tomorrow before she hears it from someone else. As for everyone else, I don’t think it is going to be a secret for long anyway.” says Keith, looking thoughtful.

“How far along is he?” asks Pidge.

“About five months,” says Keith.

“So you’ve been together for five months and he’s five months pregnant?” says Lance. “You didn’t waste any time, did you?” 

“It’s not like we knew this could happen, it turns out the clone body isn't an exact replica,” says Keith defensively.

“I thought he had some kind of massive abdominal tumor when I dragged him here a few hours ago. He’s been pretty reclusive the past couple months so seeing him today was a shock, and then he passed out,” says Hunk, shaking his head. “I’m just glad he’s okay.”

“Yeah, as weird as it is this is pretty much the best case scenario,” says Pidge.

“We’ve lost enough,” agrees Lance, absentmindedly rubbing at his Altean markings.

“It's getting late. You should all go get some sleep. Hopefully he'll be ready to see you in the morning,” says Keith.

“Do you need a place to crash? Lance already claimed my spare room, but my couch is still available,” says Hunk as he gets up to leave.

“No, I'm gonna spend the night here,” says Keith with a yawn. “I'll see you all tomorrow.”

The paladins take turns hugging Keith as they say their goodbyes and leave the hospital.

Keith sends a quick message to Krolia to call him when she has a minute, and walks back down the hall to Shiro's room.

_________________

Shiro is watching the door and waiting when Keith returns. 

Keith locks the door behind him when he enters and double checks that the window is still covered before settling back on the edge of Shiro's bed. “How did it go?” asks Shiro.

“They had some questions, but I think mostly they’re just happy you’re going to be okay,” says Keith as he puts the ultrasound pictures back on the bedside table. “They left for the night to give you some space, but I think they're all planning to come back in the morning.”

Shiro scoots over to the side of the bed to give Keith room to settle in next to him and uses his floating arm to turn the light off.

Keith combs his fingers through Shiro's hair and leans in close to Shiro's ear, “I missed you while I was gone,” he says quietly.

“I missed you too,” says Shiro, pulling him closer.

Keith closes the distance with a kiss, slowly moving his lips against Shiro's until they part to allow his tongue to enter. He deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue against Shiro's and running his hands down Shiro's side, coming to a rest on his hips as he slides his thigh between Shiro's legs and moves against him.

Keith pulls away from Shiro's mouth and kisses his jaw before moving down his neck, paying special attention to his pulse point. 

“That feels nice,” says Shiro as Keith's hands resume their exploration.

“This is closer to what I pictured when I thought about what it would be like to see you again,” says Keith as he slides his hand down the back of Shiro's boxers and grabs his ass, pulling Shiro flush against his thigh that is resting between Shiro's legs.

“I don't know if this is really the place,” says Shiro, making no move to actually stop what is happening as his cock hardens against Keith's thigh.

“If you really want me to stop I will,” says Keith, beginning to pull back.

Shiro grabs him and holds him in place. “Wait, don't stop, we just… need to be quiet,” he whines, rocking down on Keith's thigh.

Keith smiles and whispers into Shiro's ear, “I never want to be away from you for that long again. Just relax and let me make you feel good,” he says before untying Shiro's hospital gown and sliding his boxers down, scratching blunt fingernails through rough white curls before taking Shiro's cock in hand and giving it a few experimental pumps.

Shiro groans and Keith ducks under the covers with a grin and licks over the head of Shiro's cock before sinking down and taking it into his mouth. 

Shiro covers his mouth with his metal hand to keep from making noise and alerting hospital staff to what is happening, and runs the fingers of his left hand through Keith's hair.

Keith makes a quiet noise of appreciation as he pushes down further to take the rest of Shiro's cock down his throat.

Learning that Keith has no gag reflex was a pleasant surprise a few months back. One of many pleasant surprises that day. None of Shiro's previous partners had ever been able to take his entire length that way. 

Without breaking his rhythm Keith slides his own pants down and takes himself in hand, looking up at Shiro through dark eyelashes as he continues to bob his head.

It’s a struggle for Shiro to stay quiet as Keith pulls back to lap the precome from his slit before swallowing him back down to the hilt.

Shiro tries to concentrate on smoothing down Keith's hair and the metal hand clamped over his mouth, but the feeling of Keith's throat swallowing around him makes it difficult to keep his composure. 

Shiro is very glad he isn't hooked up to any monitors because surely his heart rate would give him away as he gets closer to his climax. 

He pulls his hand away from his mouth to warn Keith that he is getting close, but Keith doesn't let up, swallowing down every last drop before coming up for air. 

Keith sits up on the bed as Shiro tries to catch his breath. “Give me a minute and I’ll get you too,” says Shiro, wrapping his arms around Keith and pulling him further up the bed.

“Oh, no need,” says Keith with a raspy voice, holding up his hand in the dim lighting to show Shiro that he has already taken care of it. “I’m going to go wash my hands, I’ll be right back,” he says, standing up to take a few steps across the room to the adjoining bathroom. 

While he is in there, Keith’s cell phone rings from the bedside table. Shiro takes a look at the screen and sees that it is Krolia, so he answers it. He knows that she can be difficult to reach, between the distance and her duties to both the blades and Diabazaal. 

“Hi Krolia, Keith should be back in a minute,” he says.

“Shiro? How are you feeling? I was told that Keith left his post because you were in the hospital,” she asks, sounding concerned.

Keith steps out of the bathroom and reaches out for his phone. “I’m okay, I’ll let Keith tell you about it. He’s right here,” says Shiro, passing the phone over.

“Hi mom, thanks for calling me, I um… I have some news that would probably be better to tell you in person, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make it back to Diabazaal and I’d rather you hear this from me than someone else,” says Keith, still standing rigidly next to the bed. 

“I need to take a leave of absence from the blade, I’m going to be a dad,” Keith says nervously.

There is a long pause where Keith’s face goes through several expressions. Shiro can’t hear Krolia to know how she is responding, but she must have a lot to say in the matter.

“I’m still gay, mom,” says Keith sounding exasperated. “It’s Shiro, I got Shiro pregnant,”

A shorter pause as Keith facepalms. “I know where babies come from, you don’t need to tell me, I wouldn’t have believed it either if I wasn’t here, I’ll send you the pictures later,” he says.

“...Thanks mom. We might know more tomorrow. I’ll keep you updated. It’s getting late here, so I need to go now,” he says, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“I love you too, mom. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he says with a smile as he hangs up the phone and turns to Shiro.

“Well, it could have gone a lot worse. You know, Pidge tried to give me the talk too,” says Keith as he lays down beside Shiro in the bed. 

Shiro gives a nervous chuckle, “At least I dodged that bullet,” he says, wrapping his arm around Keith and pulling the blankets over them both.

Keith curls into Shiro’s side and places his hand on Shiro’s stomach, rubbing gently against the tight skin. Shiro kisses the top of Keith’s head and mumbles his goodnight before drifting off to sleep.

_________________

Shiro opens his eyes surrounded by white. Being in this white void reminds him of his time inside the black lion’s consciousness, aside from the clear difference in color. He turns looking for something, anything that is familiar to ground himself. 

Off in the distance he spots Allura and runs towards her. As he reaches her she turns and smiles up at him. Shiro can see that she is holding a swaddled baby. “She’s beautiful, Shiro,” she says with a smile, looking back down at the baby in her arms.

“Am I dreaming, or is this real?” Shiro asks, nervously reaching out to take the baby. 

“You’re dreaming, but this is real too,” says Allura. 

“Is this where you spend all your time?” asks Shiro, looking around at what seems like miles of nothingness.

“No, it isn’t always like this. I spend a lot of time watching what is happening in our reality, or in any of the other realities that we saved. Sometimes I can manage a visit to someone’s dreams, like I’m doing now,” she says. 

“It must be lonely,” Shiro says, remembering his time in the black lion.

“It is,” Allura confesses “but it’s temporary. I’m gaining new abilities as my quintessence reforms. I believe I’ll eventually be able to take on physical form again.”

“It’ll be good to have you back, everyone misses you,” says Shiro, looking away from Allura and down at the little bundle in his arms. The baby looks up at him with big dark blue eyes and yawns, stretching out her tiny limbs against the confines of the blanket she’s wrapped in.

“I know you’re worried right now, but I’ve seen bits and pieces of the future, and I wanted you to know that everything is going to be okay,” says Allura, reaching out to let the baby grab her finger.

“I just don’t understand why this happened,” says Shiro.

“Honerva was doing research into Galra hybrids, she believed that they had the potential to be stronger than pure Galra. I believe the alterations that were made to your clones were meant to be a way of adding Champion DNA to the gene pool,” says Allura.

Shiro nods, that makes about as much sense as anything else he could come up with, and he knows from watching Keith that there might be some truth to that hypothesis. “What else have you seen from the future, is there anything you need to warn us about?” he asks, unable to take his eyes off the baby who is now dozing off in his arms.

“I haven’t seen very much, even less from our reality. I don’t think I’m meant to know about things that I’m going to be around for. I do know what you’re going to name this little one, and I’m very flattered,” she says with a smile, smoothing out the baby’s fuzzy black hair.

“So,” Allura says with a sly smile. “You and Keith, at my memorial?” 

Shiro’s ears turn red, “You saw that?”

“Couldn’t miss it. Don’t worry, I didn’t watch,” she laughs.

“I’m sorry,” says Shiro, looking away to try to hide his red face.

“Don’t be, it was inevitable. I don’t think a reality exists where the two of you don’t find each other,” she says.

“Things with Keith are new, but good. I don’t want to mess this up,” says Shiro.

“I don’t think you could mess things up with Keith even if you tried, He loves you in every reality, it’s one of the constants. Even in realities where neither of you have ever left Earth, the realities where he is older than you, the reality where you first met when you hit him with your car… In every single reality that I have seen, the two of you are either already together or on your way there,” says Allura.

“Do you know when you’ll be coming back?” asks Shiro.

Allura shakes her head sadly, “I’m afraid I don’t have any idea. I know it’s happening, but time works differently here,” she says wistfully.

Shiro nods, he understands better than most people would, “Just hang in there,” he says, wrapping her into a hug with his free arm.

Allura pulls back “You’re about to wake up and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do this again. I wanted to tell you to go to Altea. It isn’t unheard of for Altean men to use advanced shapeshifting to have children. You won’t stand out as much there. Even on the restored Altea, medical science is more advanced than anything Earth has to offer,”

Shiro takes one last look at the baby in his arms, “Thank you for showing her to me, I’ll talk to Keith about making the trip to Altea as soon as I’m released,”

“Congratulations, Shiro. Keep an eye on Lance for me,” says Allura as she begins to fade out.

“I will,” Shiro says, but she is already gone.

_____________

Shiro wakes up to sunlight hitting his eyes through the hospital window.

Keith is across the room responding to a gentle rap on the door. “You can come in, but he’s still asleep,” Keith whispers.

“I’m up,” says Shiro, sitting up in the bed to greet whoever is at the door.

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge walk into the room and gather around Shiro’s bed holding gifts.

Hunk steps forward first and presents Shiro with a basket of muffins, “I know you’ve been having trouble holding food down. These always helped me back when I still had problems with motion sickness,” he says.

Next Lance hands over a bag of baby supplies, “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I went shopping. You’re going to need all of this stuff eventually,” he says, digging down through the bag. “This one’s my favorite,” he says as he pulls out a tiny blue lion onesie.

Pidge is next. “I know you don’t want to have to explain this to people, so I took care of everything with the garrison,” she says, handing over a folder full of paperwork. “All you need to do is sign the last page, it’s your approval for time off. The Atlas is going to launch tomorrow with Iverson as captain, that was decided before I talked to dad last night, but if you sign these papers your position will be kept for up to a year. After that you would have to apply for an extension,” she says, handing him a pen and pointing to the line.

“Thank you,” says Shiro. “I know this is an unusual situation. I’m glad to have your support,”

Lance shrugs his shoulders “When it comes to the strange things I’ve seen in the past few years, this barely even counts as unusual,” he says.

“I know there are mermaids out there, I wonder if there’s a planet of seahorse people where you could go to blend in for a while.” says Hunk, thoughtfully.

“I want to go to Altea, Allura contacted me while I was sleeping and suggested I go there,” says Shiro.

Lance breaks into a grin, “I’m glad she talks to someone other than me. I was starting to worry that it might not be real,” he says.

Keith sits back down on the edge of the bed, “As soon as they let you out of here, I’ll have my ship packed up and ready to leave, Altea sounds good to me,” he says.

Shiro leans back and rests his hand on his stomach, feeling his daughter move inside him and looks around at Keith and his friends as they taste Hunk’s muffins and dig through the pile of gifts Lance brought. He knows he has a few rough months ahead of him, and this whole thing might be insane, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
